Adelaide, Australia: Ireland captain William Porterfield won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan on Sunday in the last group-stage match at the Cricket World Cup.
The winner will advance to the quarterfinals and a match against four-time champion Australia next Friday, again at the Adelaide Oval.
Pakistan made two changes, with pace spearhead Mohammad Irfan, who has a hip injury, and senior batsman Younis Khan replaced by Haris Sohail and Ehsan Adil.
There were no changes to the Ireland starting lineup.
The forecast was for mostly sunny skies and very little chance of rain that could affect the outcome.
Both teams have three wins each so far in the tournament. Pakistan, the 1992 champion, has not won a match when batting second at this World Cup.
When the teams last met at the World Cup in 2007, Ireland — playing for the first time in the tournament — beat Pakistan by three wickets to help eliminate the 1992 champions from the knockout stages. Younis Khan was the only Pakistan player who participated in that 2007 encounter, but didn't get the start Sunday.
The Irish squad looked relaxed just ahead of the match, playing a game of touch rugby 10 minutes before the toss
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Lineups:
Pakistan: Ahmed Shahzad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Haris Sohail, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil.
Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Andy Balbirnie, Gary Wilson, Kevin O'Brien, John Mooney, Stuart Thompson, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell.
Umpires: Marais Erasmus, South Africa, and Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sri Lanka.
Third umpire: Simon Fry, Australia. Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle, Sri Lanka.
